For federal judges, resignations offer quick end to probes

WASHINGTON — The fastest way for federal judges facing investigation by their peers to make an inquiry go away is to utter two words: “I quit.”

That’s how appellate judges Maryanne Trump Barry and Alex Kozinski ended investigations into complaints that Barry participated in fraudulent tax schemes and Kozinski sexually harassed women. Barry is the older sister of President Trump.

And because they’re older than 65, and with more than 15 years as federal judges, Barry and Kozinski can collect their annual salary, roughly $220,000 when they retired, for the rest of their lives.

Panels of judges across the country have concluded that they have no authority to investigate a judge who has stepped down from the bench. Similar reasoning led judges to dismiss complaints against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh stemming from his confirmation hearing last year, while he was an appeals court judge. The complaints challenge the accuracy of his testimony, including his angry denial of an allegation he sexually assaulted a woman when they were teenagers. Supreme Court justices are not covered by the 1980 law governing judicial misconduct. The Kavanaugh dismissals are being appealed.

The dismissals have led to calls to change the law to bolster faith in the judiciary and provide a full accounting that would either show complaints to be valid or poke holes in them. Other lawyers believe that the law already allows investigations to continue and that judges are misreading it.

Gabe Roth, head of the court transparency group Fix The Court, said he is trying to persuade members of Congress to take on the issue.

“The idea that there’s a way to game the system doesn’t give you faith in the impartiality of the judiciary,” Roth said. “It’s the opposite of what we...